Established on April 4, 1949, and now celebrating its 76th anniversary, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a powerful political and military alliance comprising 32 nations united by a common goal: preserving peace and ensuring the security of over one billion citizens. NATO’s mission is to safeguard the freedom and security of its members through both political and military means. While the Alliance is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes, it retains the military capacity to conduct crisis-management operations if diplomacy fails. Such operations are conducted either under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty—the principle of collective defense—or with a United Nations mandate, independently or in cooperation with other international actors. As the longest-standing military alliance in modern history, NATO has demonstrated remarkable adaptability and resilience over more than seven decades.

Türkiye’s accession to NATO in 1952, alongside Greece, marked a turning point in its foreign and security policy. The decision to join was primarily motivated by the growing threat posed by the Soviet Union and the potential spread of communism in the region. Key Soviet actions—such as the 1939 demand for regime change in the Turkish Straits, the refusal to renew the 1925 Friendship and Non-Aggression Pact in 1945, and territorial claims on Kars and Ardahan—compelled Türkiye to draw closer to the Western bloc. The protocol for Türkiye’s NATO membership was signed on October 17, 1951, and the law ratifying the country’s accession was enacted on February 18, 1952.